Vindication for the cheap white refrigerator! Those fancy appliances break — and are so expensive to fix.

• Basic, cheap white refrigerators, often in rental apartments, have been maligned unfairly.
• New and fancy appliances have electronic parts that break down more easily.

In a scene in "The Real Housewives of Atlanta," Nene Leakes goes to visit her castmate Kenya Moore, who is living at a long-term hotel.

Leakes looks around the place, barely hiding her disgust. "I was shocked, honey. I was in tears, almost. And they have a white refrigerator," Leakes says later in a taped confessional. "I was like, 'Uh-huh, ooh, not a white refrigerator.'"

The reaction became a viral TikTok sound, often for people showing off their own homes with a white fridge. Being budget-friendly, the white fridge is something of a "landlord special," like painting over an electrical outlet.

But the humble white fridge deserves our respect. Unlike fancier stainless-steel refrigerators with digital buttons and ice makers, a white fridge is built to last.

Lately, The Wall Street Journal reported, some homeowners are complaining that their fancy home appliances — washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, fridges — are breaking down faster than the cheaper, older models, which lasted decades.

The main culprit is the fancy electronic panels and other high-tech parts, which are more prone to breaking. The Journal wrote:

A top-loader washing machine with a knob may look less sleek than one with a digital display, but you may get more years out of it. Similarly, a fridge custom-designed to blend into your walls may end up with a busted ice maker.

And do you really need a fridge with a 32-inch screen that lets you watch TikTok on it?

Plus, those stainless-steel fridges? Fingerprint city. Justice for the white fridge!